Longitudinally adjustable interlocking railing construction

ABSTRACT

An interlocking construction for metal railings which is adjustable for variations in designed spacing between vertical walls. The construction includes a top rail which comprises a locking bar supported at both ends by angle clips bolted to the walls, a top rail which snaps onto grooves in the locking bar, and expansion filters inside both ends of the top rail which extend to the walls and are held in place by the spring tension of the top rail. The construction also includes an adjustable bottom rail with adjustable supporting deck brackets, and vertical, spaced, tubular members extending between the top and the bottom rail.

United States Patent 1 Murdock i 1 LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTABLE INTERLOCKING RAILING CONSTRUCTION I [75] lnventor: Robert Hamilton Murdock,

Kensington, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Railtec Corporation, Emeryville,

Calif.

[22] Filed: Apr. 10, 1972 [21] Appl. NoL: 242,315

[52] US. Cl 256/21, 256/22, 256/65,

2,930,638 3/1960 Morrissey 256/65 UX [451 Sept. 4, 1973 Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor Att0rneyHarris Zimmerman [5 7 ABSTRACT An interlocking construction for metal railings which is adjustable for variations indesigned spacing between vertical walls. The construction includes a top rail which comprises a locking bar supported at both ends by angle clips bolted to the walls, a top rail which snaps onto grooves in the locking bar, and expansion filters inside both ends of the top rail which extend to the walls and are held in place by the spring tension of the top rail. The construction also includes an adjustable bottom rail with adjustable supporting deck brackets, and vertical, spaced, tubular members extending between the top and the bottom rail.

13 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 4 ms SHEEI 1 0F 2 I PATENTEDSEP 4mm 1 sum 2 BF 2 LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTABLE INTERLOCKING RAILING CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF- THE INVENTION Metal railings such as tubular aluminum railings are in great demand for protecting areas between bearing walls or party walls, such as balcony openings or the like, because of their strength, simplicity, beauty, and minimum maintainence requirements. In the past, however, these installations have presented many problems because the separation of the walls often varied from the design dimension by .as much as several inches. Because of the variations in separation, precut modular railings often underwent expensive on-site alterations at the time of installation, and therefore their use was limited. Railings which were cut to size, assembled, and installed on-site required a great amount of labor, and often lacked uniformity with other nearby installations.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a modular pre-assembled railing construction which is adjustable to varying span lengths.

It is another object of this invention to provide an adjustable modular railing construction which is quick to assemble, easy to install, and handsome and secure when in place.

It is another object of this invention to provide a modular, adjustable railing construction which is tamper proof when installed.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a railing structure con-. structed according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the top and bottom rails mounted on a wall.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional side view of the top rail secured to a wall.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional side view of the bottom rail secured to a wall.

The top rail 13 of railing is secured to the wall 12 an elongated hole 19 through its vertical leg 17,

- I through which the cap screw is tightened into an ex- FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a deck bracket.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of a modification of top rail.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The metal railing construction of the present invention, generally referred to by reference numeral 10, is

shown in FIG. 1. It is shown secured to the walls 1 1 and 12 with expansion assemblies 9 to protect the space therebetween. It consists of a top rail 13, vertical bars 14, a bottom rail 15, and the deck brackets 16. The rails 13 and 15 may be assembled to the bars 14 according to the construction described in US. Pat. No. 3,498,589, Interlocking Railing Construction", issued Mar. 3, 1970 to the inventor of the present invention.

pansion shield 24 in the wall 12 as shown in FIG. 3. The elongated hole 19 allows for minor errors in the height of the expansion shield receiving screw 20. The vertical leg 17 also has a notch 21 in the surface adjoining the wall.

The horizontal leg 22 of clip 18 slidably engages a groove 23 in the locking bar 25. The locking bar is a continuous bar secured at its other end to the wall 11 with another expansion assembly 9. A lock bolt 26, screwed into threaded hole 28, prevents the locking bar 25 from sliding on the leg 22. Secured to the locking bar 25 is a hand rail 29, an open-mouth channel member. The hand rail 29 has bevelled shoulder flange portions 30 extending the entire length of the rail 29 which engage the grooves 31 extending the length of the locking bar 25. The spring tension of the shoulders 30 snapped into the grooves 31 secures the hand rail 29 firmly to the locking bar 25, as shown in FIG. 4.

Inside the hand rail 29 is a short expansion filler 33, which is formed to telescope to close any gap between the hand rail 29 and the wall 12. To the inside of the filler 33 is secured a locking tab 34 which engages the notch 21 of the angle clip 18, as shown in FIG. 3. The spring tension of the hand rail 29, when snapped onto the locking bar 25, prevents any play or rattling of the expansion filler 33, and the tab 34 prevents any lateral motion of the filler 33, thereby insuring a secure installation which is completely tamper proof.

The bottom rail 15 is an open mouth channel member with inwardly directed flanges 36, bevelled shoulders 37, and grooves 35 therebetween. An expansion fitting 38, with grooves to accomodate the flanges 36 and the shoulders 37, telescopes from the end of the bottom rail 15. The expansion fitting 38 is sized and contoured so that it is under the spring tension of the rail 15, preventing any rattling.

. The expansion fitting 38 contains a U-shaped channel 39 along its length which is seated on a bushing 41 and a capscrew 40. The cap screw 40 is secured into an expansion shield 42 in the wall 12, as shown in FIG. 5. The cap screw 40 acts as a seating pin for the expansion fitting 38, and the bushing 41 increases the extension of the head of the screw 40 from the wall 12, providing a longer bearing surface for the fitting 38. The bushing 41 is slightly larger in diameter than the screw 40, and provides a more secure press fit in the channel 39.

To insure that the expansion fitting 38 will not telescope back into the rail 15, a horseshoe wedge 43 is driven into the grooves of the fitting 38, between the upper surfaces of the flanges 36 and the lower surfaces of the grooves, as shown in FIG. 5, locking the fitting 38 in place.

For long railing spans, deck brackets 16 are employed to support. the center of the railing 10, both vertically and laterally. The bracket 16 shown in FIG. 7 is a T-shaped member with an elongated foot 45 through which there is a countersunk hole 46. The hole 46 permits the bracket 16 to be secured to the deck by a bolt or screw. The upper horizontal portion of the bracket 16 is bevelled and lipped to snap fit into the shoulders 37 and grooves 35 of the bottom rail 15. The brackets 16 can be snapped into the rail 15 anywhere along the rail and bolted to the deck, to provide additional support as required in each installation.

The quick installation of the assembled railing system follows these steps:

I. The expansion shields are appropriately placed in the walls 11 and 12;

2. The bottom cap screws 40 with bushings 41 are set into the bottom expansion shields;

3. The expansion fittings 38 are telescoped out of the bottom railing 15 to the walls 11 and 12, and the railing structure 10 is set onto the cap screws 40;

4. The angle clips 18 are extended from the locking bar 25 to the walls 11 and 12, and bolted in place with screws I 5. The expansion fillers 33 are extended to the walls 11 and 12 with the tabs 34 engaging the grooves 21, and the hand rail 29 containing the fillers 33 is snapped onto the locking bar 6. The horseshoe wedges 43 are driven into the grooves of the expansion fittings 38, locking them in place;

7. The deck brackets 16 are added as required.

Thus the present invention can be installed with no time-consuming measuring, cutting, trimming or post setting, and no chance for incorrect or faulty installation. There are no rough edges exposed, no fittings can be exposed to tampering, and the railing is sturdy and rattle-free.

For extremely long spans, a re-inforcing bar 50 is added to the top rail 13 to assure maximum safety. The bar 50 shown in FIG. 8, is contoured to fit inside the assembled hand rail 29, below the rail 29 and above the locking bar 25. The bar provides added rigidity to the top rail assembly, and thus strengthens the entire railing structure.

It may be required in some situations that the railing 10 be installed using post supports in place of the walls 11 and 12. In that case posts are set at the nominal span distance of the railing 10, which is secured to the posts with the same assemblies employed for wall mounting. Posts may also be employed in conjunction with the reinforcing bar, to strengthen extremely long spans, as required.

I claim: I

1. In an interlocking construction for railings and the like, an easily extendable fastening assembly for joining the ends of a pair of longitudinally aligned members to vertical supporting means disposed generally normal to the ends of said pair of members in a tamper proof and rattle free manner, comprising a pair of angle brackets each having a vertical portion fastened to said vertical supporting means, and a horizontal portion for slidably engaging a longitudinal, horizontal slot in the first of said pair of members, expansion filler means slidably housed within the second of said pair of members, to slidably extend from the ends of said second member to flush relationships with said vertical support means, said expansion filler means comprising a pair of open mouthed channel members each having a locking tap depending vertically from the interior transverse portion of said open mouth channel members at the ends adjacent said vertical support means, said vertical portions of said angle brackets lockingly receiving said locking tabs to secure the expansion filler means in flush relationship with the vertical support means and in covering relationships with said angle brackets.

2. The interlocking construction of claim 1 wherein the first of said pair of members comprises a locking bar having upwardly projecting side portions having a longitudinal horizontal slot therebetween, said second of said pair of members comprises an elongated open mouthed channel upper rail member having inwardly projecting reentrant flanges adjacent the mouth thereof, said locking bar side portions and said reentrant flanges having cooperating shoulders and grooves adapted to lockingly engage in a non-removable snapping fit to rigidly secure said upper rail member to said locking bar and said expansion filler means inside said upper rail member.

3. The interlocking construction of claim 2 further including a lower rail member spaced unifonnly apart and below said pair of members, a plurality of uniformly spaced vertical bars secured to said locking bar and said lower rail member, said lower rail member comprising an elongated open mouthed channel rail member having inwardly projecting reentrant flanges, and shoulder and groove portions adjacent the mouth thereof, a pair of grooved expansion bars adapted to slidably extend from within the ends of said lower rail member, to a flush relationship with said vertical support means, said expansion bars each having a longitudinal seating slot opening downwardly, and seating pin means, secured to said vertical support means and received by said seating slots, to support said lower rail member.

4. The interlocking construction of claim 3, further including a pair of wedges to frictionally engage said grooves of said expansion bars and said reentrant flanges of said lower rail member to prevent movement of said expansion bars from said flush relationship with said vertical support means.

5. The interlocking construction of claim 3, further including a plurality of T-shaped deck brackets, each of said brackets having an elongated foot with a hole therethrough for securing said bracket to a horizontal surface, the upper, horizontal portion of said bracket having bevelled and lipped edges cooperating with said shoulder and groove portions of said lower rail member to lockingly engage ina nonremovable snapping fit to rigidly secure said deck bracket to said lower rail memher in a supporting relationship.

6. The interlocking construction of claim 2, further including a reinforcing bar adapted to fit inside said upper rail member and to extend the length of said upper rail member, said reinforcing bar being held securely in place by said snapping fit of said upper rail member to said locking bar.

7. In an interlocking construction for railings and the like, an easily-extendable cosmetic fastening assembly for joining the free ends of a longitudinally extending handgrip member to vertical supporting means disposed generally normal to said ends of said hand-grip member in a tamperproof and rattle-free manner, and such that no rough edges or fitting means are exposed, said assembly comprising a locking bar subjacent to, coterminous with, and longitudinally-extending in contact with said hand-grip member, said assembly further comprising a pair of right-angle brackets having their vertical portions fastened by fastening means to said vertical supporting means, and their horizontal portions for slidably engaging a longitudinal, horizontal slot in said locking bar, a pair of expansion filler means slidably housed within said hand-grip member to slidably extend from the ends of said hand-grip member to flush relationships with said vertical support means, said fastening means being hidden from view by said expansion filler means.

8. The interlocking construction of claim 7 wherein said expansion filler means comprise open-mouthed channel members having locking tabs depending vertically from the interior transverse portions of said open mouth channel members at the ends adjacent said vertical support means, said vertical portions of said angle brackets lockingly receiving saidlocking tabs to secure said expansion filler means in flush relationships with said vertical support means and in covering relationships with said angle brackets. v

9. The interlocking construction of claim 8 wherein said hand-grip member comprises an elongated openmouthed channel upper rail member having inwardly projecting reentrant flanges adjacent the mouth thereof, and wherein said locking bar has upwardly projecting side portions having a longitudinal slot therebetween, said side portions and said flanges having co-operating shoulders and grooves to lockingly en-' gage in a non-removable snapping fit to rigidly secure said upper rail member to said locking bar and said'expansion filler means inside said upper rail member.

10. The interlocking construction of claim 9 further including a lower rail member spaced uniformly apart and below said hand-grip member and said locking bar, a plurality of uniformly-spaced vertical spindle bars secured to said locking bar and said lower rail members, said lower rail member comprising an elongated openmouthed channel rail member having inwardlyprojecting reentrant flanges, and shoulder and groove portions adjacent the mouth thereof, a pair of grooved expansion bars adapted to slidably extend from within the ends of said lower rail member to flush relationships with said vertical support means, said expansion bars each having a longitudinal seating slot opening downwardly, and seating pin means, secured to said vertical support'means and received by said seating slots, to support said lower rail member.

11. The interlocking construction of claim 10, further including a pair of wedges to functionally engage said grooves of said expansion bars and said reentrant flanges of said lower rail member'to prevent movement of said expansion bars from said flush relationships with said vertical support means.

12. The interlocking construction of claim 10, further including a plurality of T-shaped deck brackets, each of said brackets having an elongated foot with a hole therethrough for securing said bracket to a horizontal surface, the upper, horizontal portion of said bracket having bevelled and lipped edges cooperating with said shoulder and groove portions of said lower rail member to locking engage in a nonremovable snapping fit to rigidly secure said deck bracket to said lower rail member in a supporting relationship.

13. The interlocking construction of claim 9, further including a reinforcing bar adapted to fit inside said upper rail member and to extend the length of said upper rail member, said reinforcing bar being held securely in place by said snapping fit of said upper rail member to said locking bar. 

1. In an interlocking construction for railings and the like, an easily extendable fastening assembly for joining the ends of a pair of longitudinally aligned members to vertical supporting means disposed generally normal to the ends of said pair of members in a tamper proof and rattle free manner, comprising a pair of angle brackets each having a vertical portion fastened to said vertical supporting means, and a horizontal portion for slidably engaging a longitudinal, horizontal slot in the first of said pair of members, expansion filler means slidably housed within the second of said pair of members, to slidably extend from the ends of said second member to flush relationships with said vertical support means, said expansion filler means comprising a pair of open mouthed channel members each having a locking tap depending vertically from the interior transverse portion of said open mouth channel members at the ends adjacent said vertical support means, said vertical portions of said angle brackets lockingly receiving said locking tabs to secure the expansion filler means in flush relationship with the vertical support means and in covering relationships with said angle brackets.
 2. The interlocking construction of claim 1 wherein the first of said pair of members comprises a locking bar having upwardly projecting side portions having a longitudinal horizontal slot therebetween, said second of said pair of members comprises an elongated open mouthed channel upper rail member having inwardly projecting reentrant flanges adjacent the mouth thereof, said locking bar side portions and said reentrant flanges having cooperating shoulders and grooves adapted to lockingly engage in a non-removable snapping fit to rigidly secure said upper rail member to said locking bar and said expansion filler means inside said upper rail member.
 3. The interlocking construction of claim 2 further including a lower rail member spaced uniformly apart and below said pair of members, a plurality of uniformly spaced vertical bars secured to said locking bar and said lower rail member, said lower rail member comprising an elongated open mouthed channel rail member having inwaRdly projecting reentrant flanges, and shoulder and groove portions adjacent the mouth thereof, a pair of grooved expansion bars adapted to slidably extend from within the ends of said lower rail member, to a flush relationship with said vertical support means, said expansion bars each having a longitudinal seating slot opening downwardly, and seating pin means, secured to said vertical support means and received by said seating slots, to support said lower rail member.
 4. The interlocking construction of claim 3, further including a pair of wedges to frictionally engage said grooves of said expansion bars and said reentrant flanges of said lower rail member to prevent movement of said expansion bars from said flush relationship with said vertical support means.
 5. The interlocking construction of claim 3, further including a plurality of T-shaped deck brackets, each of said brackets having an elongated foot with a hole therethrough for securing said bracket to a horizontal surface, the upper, horizontal portion of said bracket having bevelled and lipped edges cooperating with said shoulder and groove portions of said lower rail member to lockingly engage in a nonremovable snapping fit to rigidly secure said deck bracket to said lower rail member in a supporting relationship.
 6. The interlocking construction of claim 2, further including a reinforcing bar adapted to fit inside said upper rail member and to extend the length of said upper rail member, said reinforcing bar being held securely in place by said snapping fit of said upper rail member to said locking bar.
 7. In an interlocking construction for railings and the like, an easily-extendable cosmetic fastening assembly for joining the free ends of a longitudinally extending handgrip member to vertical supporting means disposed generally normal to said ends of said hand-grip member in a tamperproof and rattle-free manner, and such that no rough edges or fitting means are exposed, said assembly comprising a locking bar subjacent to, coterminous with, and longitudinally-extending in contact with said hand-grip member, said assembly further comprising a pair of right-angle brackets having their vertical portions fastened by fastening means to said vertical supporting means, and their horizontal portions for slidably engaging a longitudinal, horizontal slot in said locking bar, a pair of expansion filler means slidably housed within said hand-grip member to slidably extend from the ends of said hand-grip member to flush relationships with said vertical support means, said fastening means being hidden from view by said expansion filler means.
 8. The interlocking construction of claim 7 wherein said expansion filler means comprise open-mouthed channel members having locking tabs depending vertically from the interior transverse portions of said open mouth channel members at the ends adjacent said vertical support means, said vertical portions of said angle brackets lockingly receiving said locking tabs to secure said expansion filler means in flush relationships with said vertical support means and in covering relationships with said angle brackets.
 9. The interlocking construction of claim 8 wherein said hand-grip member comprises an elongated open-mouthed channel upper rail member having inwardly projecting reentrant flanges adjacent the mouth thereof, and wherein said locking bar has upwardly projecting side portions having a longitudinal slot therebetween, said side portions and said flanges having co-operating shoulders and grooves to lockingly engage in a non-removable snapping fit to rigidly secure said upper rail member to said locking bar and said expansion filler means inside said upper rail member.
 10. The interlocking construction of claim 9 further including a lower rail member spaced uniformly apart and below said hand-grip member and said locking bar, a plurality of uniformly-spaced vertical spindle bars secured to said locking bar and said lower rail members, said lower rail member comprIsing an elongated open-mouthed channel rail member having inwardly-projecting reentrant flanges, and shoulder and groove portions adjacent the mouth thereof, a pair of grooved expansion bars adapted to slidably extend from within the ends of said lower rail member to flush relationships with said vertical support means, said expansion bars each having a longitudinal seating slot opening downwardly, and seating pin means, secured to said vertical support means and received by said seating slots, to support said lower rail member.
 11. The interlocking construction of claim 10, further including a pair of wedges to functionally engage said grooves of said expansion bars and said reentrant flanges of said lower rail member to prevent movement of said expansion bars from said flush relationships with said vertical support means.
 12. The interlocking construction of claim 10, further including a plurality of T-shaped deck brackets, each of said brackets having an elongated foot with a hole therethrough for securing said bracket to a horizontal surface, the upper, horizontal portion of said bracket having bevelled and lipped edges cooperating with said shoulder and groove portions of said lower rail member to locking engage in a nonremovable snapping fit to rigidly secure said deck bracket to said lower rail member in a supporting relationship.
 13. The interlocking construction of claim 9, further including a reinforcing bar adapted to fit inside said upper rail member and to extend the length of said upper rail member, said reinforcing bar being held securely in place by said snapping fit of said upper rail member to said locking bar. 